A More Christlike God by Bradley Jersak - REVIEWED

About the book: 
A More Christlike God (April 2015)

What is God like? A punishing judge? A doting grandfather? A deadbeat dad? A vengeful warrior?

Believers and atheists alike typically carry and finally reject the toxic images of God in their own hearts and minds. Even the Christian gospel has repeatedly lapsed into a vision of God where the wrathful King must be appeased by his victim Son. How do such good cop/bad cop distortions of the divine arise and come to dominate churches and cultures?

Whether our notions of 'god' are personal projections or inherited traditions, author and theologian Brad Jersak proposes a radical reassessment, arguing for A More Christlike God: a More Beautiful Gospel. If Christ is "the image of the invisible God, the radiance of God's glory and exact representation of God's likeness," what if we conceived of God as completely Christlike---the perfect Incarnation of self-giving, radically forgiving, co-suffering love? What if God has always been and forever will be cruciform (cross-shaped) in his character and actions?

A More Christlike God suggests that such a God would be very good news indeed---a God who Jesus "unwrathed" from dead religion, a Love that is always toward us, and a Grace that pours into this suffering world through willing, human partners.

Purchase you copy HERE.

My Thoughts:

“Whenever we teach the beautiful gospel, we remind audiences of two cardinal truths:

1.       God does not change.

2.       God is perfectly revealed in Christ.”  (p. 293)

Bradley Jersak is a bold representative of the gospel.  He challenges every religious spirit and tells them to flee, because The Cross IS the beautiful gospel.  In all of its bloody splendor!  In all of its loving sacrifice.  In its completeness.  The Cross is a beautiful gospel, and we dare not let religion steal that from our hearts and minds!  We should dare to live victorious lives in the security of Christ’s great love for us! 

Jersak wants believers and non-believers alike to take a good hard look at religion – in all of its forms – and then to look at the finished work on the cross.  Honestly, this is a rather academic book, but the truth of the conclusion will rock your world!  There are some seriously weighty questions to be considered at the end of each chapter, but they are questions that need to be considered. 

Personally, I believe many will leave this book half-way through – offended because their religion has been shown faulty in the shadow of the cross.  Religion has stolen something critical that has never left us….the truth of the gospel.  But the reality of taking up our cross daily is too much, so we settle for a lesser religious answer instead of embracing Christ’s invitation to live and love as He did.

This is a convicting book.  A challenging book.  A book you can share with unbelievers to cause them to take a look at the power of the cross.  This is not a book for those afraid to take a hard look at their faith. Rather, it is a book that asks you consider hard truths and embrace Christ’s invitation to follow Him.

About the Author:

Brad Jersak (PhD) is an author and teacher based in Abbotsford, BC. He is on faculty at Westminster Theological Centre (Cheltenham, UK), where he teaches New Testament and Patristics. He also serves as adjunct faculty with St Stephen's University (St. Stephen, NB). He is also the senior editor of CWR (Christianity Without the Religion) Magazine, based in Pasadena, CA.

Find Brad online: website, Facebook, Twitter